GALAXY 19

Mission Profile

From its equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude, a Zenit-3SL launch vehicle lifted the Galaxy 19 spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a final orbital location at 97 degrees West Longitude. The first stage of the vehicle separated two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff and the protective payload fairing jettisoned 75 seconds later. After operating for six minutes, the second stage separated from the Block DM upper stage. The Block DM upper stage operated for eight-and-a-half minutes. Following a 33-minute coast period, the Block DM burned a second time for three minutes. After the second burn, and another 10-minute coast, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage over the west coast of Africa. The Hartebeesthoek ground station near Johannesburg, South Africa, acquired the first signals from Galaxy 19 soon after spacecraft separation. All systems performed flawlessly throughout the mission.